Native medicine is the knowledge and tools that keep you mentally, physically and spiritually well, or what is now called “balance”. Cecilia is offering the tools, knowledge and practical ways to be happy and healthy in your day-to-day life.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

I receive a spiritual message from time to time reminding me of my responsibilities and that class isn't over. I can still feel Cecilia as strong as before and her messages are clear. The more I practice and stay with the medicine, the stronger her presence is with me. I have been in touch with some of her community over the past year and several of us have talked about creating something that we can contribute to and share what we have learned to keep the energy flowing.

I sent a message out to Cecilia's community seeking participation in sharing lessons, experiences, stories and photos of Cecilia, her medicine and her work. If there are gatherings, activities, events, hikes, classes or anything that are appropriate, they can be posted here as well by emailing firepithome@gmail.com.

Cecilia gave all of us exactly what we needed at the time and all of our experiences are deeply personal and wildly different, but her lessons were the same. In her energy we felt our own natural rhythm, balance and everything made sense... then she gave us the lessons and tools to stay with it.

I remember one of the very first stories she told me, it was about the Antelope. She told me that they are very good at handling an emergency and are able to act in the moment... and, when the emergency was over, they went back to hanging out and eating grass, or doing whatever Antelope do. The point she was making was that after the emergency Antelope go back to their natural rhythm and calm energy. Living in the stress state is unhealthy and becomes a block for natural order. She taught me to be more like the Antelope.

All of her analogies were simple lessons on how to live my busy modern life with common sense and go about with a good attitude while caring for myself. I hope all of her students are being more like the Antelope, Coyote, Deer or whatever it was she passed on to you.

If anyone sends something, I will publish it here so there is a resource of her native lessons. Her knowledge is left with us and we can share what we learned.

"Cecilia believed that, when her transition is complete, she will be passing her gifts on to those who truly did 'get it' and have the courage to carry on the work."

"When we have done all the work we were sent to do,
we are allowed to shed our bodies,
which imprison our soul like a cocoon encloses the butterfly
and when the time is right we can let go of it.
Then we will be free of pain, free of fears and free of worries –
free as a beautiful butterfly returning home to God...."

"Cecilia was a real leader"

"She was the real deal"

"Cecelia was quite a character!"

"She changed my life"

"I was very fortunate to have known Cecilia and to consider her a great inspiration not only as a spiritual guide, but as an inspiring human being, that always told you the truth even when you didn't want to see it, because the truth hurt's. She made you seek the beauty that is nature and inspired me to learn and to acknowledge my own ancestry and the knowledge and wisdom that our herbs and plants bring. I cannot tell you enough, what a great loss this is. She made me want to be a better human being, our talks about our respective fathers were the most in depth moments, I still can recall seating outside in the enclosed garden, it was a beautiful day, the eagles were circling around us, we cried, we laughed, we let them go, I mean we let go of the pain and the joy. She was at her best teaching people, about her art, whether it was showing a group how to dance, how to make the sticks and paint them, what it symbolized, how to prepare the medicinal headbands, how to drink the water with one leaf of sage, or how she expertly described each property that a plant had and how she intertwined a story from her grandmother's teachings or how she described how difficult it had been for her to grow in the United States and how here grandmother sent her away to protect her."

When a teacher dies,
a caring friend has left us to learn more on our own.
When a teacher dies,
a caring friend has left a key to knowledge for us to find.

Teachers are true friends for they want us to improve our lives.
Teachers are beautiful for this selfless desire.
Teachers are true friends for they want to better our lives.
Teachers’ selfless desires make us more beautiful.

As those who have passed,
We still live with them.
No one really dies- it is an illusion,
They live certainly within us.

We will miss the company we are used to,
But we can get used to the new company they provide with their spirit.
It is the change of the yang to the yin,
It is the beauty of the yin that we truly miss.

-J. Snowiss

Diligence prevents a stale emptiness.
Patience teaches endurance.
Quitting breaks the walls of will.
And every ending has a new road around the corner.
(Filling the Void, a poem by yours truly)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

January 29th, 2:00PM to SunsetFebruary 26th, 2:00PM to SunsetApril 29th, 2:00PM to Sunset

HOW IT STARTED
Cecilia is offering a safe place for people to gather. A place to share, learn and most importantly, a place to laugh and dance. It started on Grandparent's day since Cecilia's grandparents were the ones that kept the teachings, she is bringing the best of the past into our forward motion in welcoming a universal need of spiritual actions. Come and be ready to unwind. Cecilia and Yoeme/Mohawk Gourd Teacher Jan Cleary are creating a learning center. In doing so, they open a space for a community to develop. Both Cecilia and Jan hope for a space where people can learn Native culture devoid of Western doctrine. Here, both Elder women offer an opportunity to teach their skills without the burden of bureaucracy. Initially the community will include only women, offering a safe place for expression and development of individual talents. Through fire, dance, song, and workshops women will learn as well as have the opportunity to cultivate their own creative talents.

WHAT IS OFFERED
Both the educational aspects and the physical space are flexible, growing and evolving. Each day determines what can be offered, taking into account environmental climate, political climate and what is happening now. While content for the day is not guaranteed, relevancy and common sense are assured. Some of the workshops that will soon be included are pine needle basket making and gourd bowl making. As we move forward we will also include workshops in whatever talent you bring to share.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Everyone is welcome, bring a friend. These workshops will not only allow you to establish a relationship with Cecilia, but they will also give you an opportunity to better understand what these women have to offer. We are asking for donations from $20 to $100 to create resources for the startup. Please bring a no fuss dish to share, drinks and a good attitude. Dress for outside, bring a blanket and clapper sticks or a rattle if you have them.

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM CECILIA

I want people to know that the womans circle is not about me, its about women. So for the next few months, I am not going to be there, I will be doing things that I need to get done, so we can share a better time together.Jan has all of the materials and clapper sticks and will be teaching the basics of dance, so when I return in April we can light a fire and really dance. It's important to me that everyone learn to dance, because dance is global, in every tradition dance is what empoweres you, keeps you from getting confused, keeps you from giving up or being run over by anything. You can't play with the medicine and not know that. You're not going to help people just by taking notes at my workshops, once you dance then everything you learn about the medicine makes sense. It's easier to find and it will find you. But without the dance, there's a missing link... and women really need that link back for themselves.

If women aren't balanced, then men have nothing to reflect. This is 2012 where women have to empower themselves without being mean. We have to get back in the place where we enjoy being women, in order for anything to change. Once you get into that comfort zone and you learn to dance you can hit that comfort zone and take that to your home and it will effect your family, your work and your attitude. Dance is the key to knowing the medicine and improving yourself. Its a real important part that will fill the gap that words don't. Dance gives you that without words getting in the way. Dance is all season, year round.

You need to know what it feels like to be welcomed so when you go into another situation and you don't feel that, you know that you aren't stuck there thinking that's what you have to accept, that's as good as it gets. Women need to learn that they deserve more, that they should be safe. When you're safe, you make better decisions, you're a better mother, a better neighbor, a better sister a better worker and things come clearer when you feel safe.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Workshop

Part 1: Friday, April 27th, 9:00-12:00
Part 2: Saturday, April 28th, 9:00-12:00

Workshop

Part 1: Friday, May 11th, 9:00-12:00
Part 2: Saturday, May 12th, 9:00-12:00

$70 members, $90 non-members

This two-session in-depth class on medicinal uses of California flora discusses the plants and why they are effective. Part I includes a photographic presentation and plant descriptions. Part II moves outside to TPF grounds to collect and prepare plants for use. Cecilia, a Chumash healer, and Jim, associate professor, USC School of Pharmacology, are co-authors of Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West: Cultural and Scientific Basis for their Use, Second Edition,(Abedus Press, 2005).

For information visit Theodore Payne Events and to enroll in classes call (818) 768-1802 during business hours